The New York Mets are going to be an intriguing team to keep an eye on leading up to the 2026 MLB trade deadline on August 3.
One player who has been heavily mentioned in trade rumors over the last few weeks has been star veteran shortstop Francisco Lindor. While the rumors have been swirling, the Mets have stayed quiet about what their plans with him are.
However, it’s possible that David Stearns has now dropped a major hint about Lindor’s future.
As shared by Max Goodman of NJ.com, Stearns has hinted that New York does not plan to trade Lindor and still views him as a piece of the core moving forward.
“I’m not going to rule out or in any specific player on anything,” Stearns said. “I don’t think that’s wise for me to do. What I will say is we’ve got a group of young players, and we’ve got some potential Hall of Famers, future Hall of Famers that we view as our core, and we expect them to be our core.”
Another reporter pressed Stearns for more, asking whether or not Lindor was part of the team’s core. He doubled down on his original answer.
“I think what I said was we have a group of really young players who we are really excited about. We have a couple guys who are likely headed to Cooperstown one day. We would consider that grouping of players our core. I’m not going to get into specifics of who exactly we are or are not going to trade right now.”
Francisco Lindor Has Been Very Consistent with the Mets
Outside of the 2026 season, which has seen Lindor play in just 46 games, the 32-year-old star has been extremely consistent for the Mets.
During the 2025 season, Lindor played in 160 games. He hit 31 home runs, drove in 86 RBI, stole 31 bases, and slashed .267/.346/.466. Back in 2024, he hit 33 home runs to go along with 91 RBI and a slash line of .273/.344/.500.
So far this season, Lindor has slashed .233/.315/.398 to go along with six home runs and 16 RBI.
Moving on from Lindor would be moving on from consistency. Usually, franchises do not like to make those kinds of moves. However, New York has had a miserable season and could choose to make some changes for the future.
Which Teams Have Been Linked as Francisco Lindor Trade Suitors?
To this point, quite a few teams have been connected as possible destinations for Lindor if the Mets did choose to move him.
Among those teams are the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and Atlanta Braves. Plenty of other teams have been talked about as possible fits.
Unfortunately for those teams who may have interest in Lindor, it doesn’t sound like New York is actively looking to trade him. That could change, but these comments from Stearns suggest the Mets would rather keep Lindor.
Mets May Have Dropped Big Hint About Francisco Lindor’s Future